Why are schools open in other parts of the country?

[Anonymous]

Western PA here. My public school has been back in school since Sept, 5 days per week. DL has always been optional for those that wanted it. They have some calculator that if Covid cases reaches X % in an individual school, it closes an DL starts for 10 days. I don’t know the exact specifics because my kids have graduated.

[Anonymous]

Only about half of US schools are in person right now. Also research shows that schools are more likely to be in person where there is higher COVID community spread and lower COVID restrictions on mask wearing and group gathering. In other words, areas with more republicans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Admitted Dec 22 ..... she wasn’t teaching . She caught COVID outside of school.

Schools here went until December 23. You also don’t get admitted the day you catch it. Everyone knows hospitalization lags behind actually being confirmed as a case. She caught it at school and was admitted when it advanced a bit later. You’re a ghoul.

Exactly that. There is a lag of weeks between a case, hospitalization, and death. I know a nurse that went up to NYC in the spring and she said when someone experienced severe disease you could almost count the exact day to the next transition (i.e., room with oxygen to ICU to ventilated). She said that it was the weirdest disease that she'd ever seen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only about half of US schools are in person right now. Also research shows that schools are more likely to be in person where there is higher COVID community spread and lower COVID restrictions on mask wearing and group gathering. In other words, areas with more republicans.

Yup, back in October the closest correlation to schools being in-person was the percentage of people who voted for Donald Trump in an area in 2016 (this was pre-2020 election). More votes for Clinton = more likely to be remote.

Yet there are Democrats who are starting to acknowledge that maybe having things open is safer. See this from Mayor Lightfoot of Chicago:

“People are engaging in risky behavior that is not only putting themselves at risk, but putting their families, their co-workers, and other ones at risk. Let’s bring it out of the shadows. Let’s allow them to have some recreation in restaurants, in bars, where we can actually work with responsible owners and managers to regulate and protect people from COVID-19.”

https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2021/01/14/mayor-lori-lightfoot-wants-to-reopen-restaurants-and-bars-as-quickly-as-possible-to-reduce-risk-of-underground-parties/

CDC studied a school in rural Wisconsin that had a nearly 40% lower COVID spread than the surrounding community.

The authors pointed in part to a new CDC study of rural Wisconsin schools, where student mask wearing was high. COVID-19 incidence in the 17 elementary through high schools was 37% lower than in the wider community, with no infections acquired at school among staff members.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/low-covid-19-spread-found-in-schools-taking-safety-precautions-us-study/ar-BB1d7iNp
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7004e3.htm

The group of APS parents who advocate for open schools use the hashtag #saferatschool. As long as mitigation measures are in place, this might not be just true from a mental health, food security, and report of child abuse standpoint, but even when it comes to COVID-19. Imagine that!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not trying to get into the open school debate, but am more genuinely curious why schools in say suburban Chicago or suburban NYC/CT are open. These are also heavily democratic areas. I at first thought it was a red state/blue state thing. Just trying to understand what’s so different about our schools.

Because they don't have teacher unions maybe?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools in Montgomery, Alabama just had to close because SIX teachers have died. Three of them from the same school.

Jesus christ.

Oh, but don't worry. These idiots will tell you that she deserved to die, because she chose to be a yucky fat person. Nothing to see here!

As usual, with all of these articles, no one discusses what safety precautions were in place to prevent COVID. For the millionth time, yes, people will get sick and die if you go to school and don't take all of the appropriate safety precautions. Show me schools where all recommended safety precautions were in place (6 feet distance, masks, small cohorts, no mixing of cohorts, etc.) and teachers die. I haven't seen any yet. The cases you read about in the news either happen at schools that pick and choose what safety measures they want to follow AND/OR the teacher acquired it outside of school and was never in the building.

[Anonymous]

As I suspected in previous post, the school where these teachers died were not following CDC guidance. Don't claim schools can't be made safe during COVID. Schools that don't follow all of the safety precautions are not safe.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/01/23/alab-j23.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As I suspected in previous post, the school where these teachers died were not following CDC guidance. Don't claim schools can't be made safe during COVID. Schools that don't follow all of the safety precautions are not safe.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/01/23/alab-j23.html

I note that article you linked says that the Alabama Educator's Association (sister to the VEA) is not calling for full distance learning. What a major difference. OP, I think your answer is right there. Look at our unions, look at unions elsewhere.

In the cases where schools are open with strong unions, look for the leader taking a stand (like the superintendent in Bellevue, WA where they sued the union: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/bellevue-school-district-expands-in-person-learning-and-takes-teachers-union-to-court/)

[Anonymous]

Other areas of the country haven't politicized the return to school issue, unfortunately our area has.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Western PA here. My public school has been back in school since Sept, 5 days per week. DL has always been optional for those that wanted it. They have some calculator that if Covid cases reaches X % in an individual school, it closes an DL starts for 10 days. I don’t know the exact specifics because my kids have graduated.

Which school district? asking for a friend who might move

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Western PA here. My public school has been back in school since Sept, 5 days per week. DL has always been optional for those that wanted it. They have some calculator that if Covid cases reaches X % in an individual school, it closes an DL starts for 10 days. I don’t know the exact specifics because my kids have graduated.

Sounds brilliant! Why can’t we do that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only about half of US schools are in person right now. Also research shows that schools are more likely to be in person where there is higher COVID community spread and lower COVID restrictions on mask wearing and group gathering. In other words, areas with more republicans.

I didn’t realize how much more Republicans valued education over Democrats. I understood the reverse to be true. In any event, can you link to that research?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Western PA here. My public school has been back in school since Sept, 5 days per week. DL has always been optional for those that wanted it. They have some calculator that if Covid cases reaches X % in an individual school, it closes an DL starts for 10 days. I don’t know the exact specifics because my kids have graduated.

Sounds brilliant! Why can’t we do that?

Anyone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only about half of US schools are in person right now. Also research shows that schools are more likely to be in person where there is higher COVID community spread and lower COVID restrictions on mask wearing and group gathering. In other words, areas with more republicans.

I didn’t realize how much more Republicans valued education over Democrats. I understood the reverse to be true. In any event, can you link to that research?

https://www.educationnext.org/pandemic-parent-survey-finds-perverse-pattern-students-more-likely-to-be-attending-school-in-person-where-covid-is-spreading-more-rapidly/

[Anonymous]

I know someone who teaches in one of these states. They have been told no matter what, they are staying open. This person had to cover for 2 other teachers (so essentially teaching 3 classes at once) while the other two were recovering from Covid. Is that what you want to send your kids to?
I want schools opened like the next person but I want it to be reasonable, not like how it's running in their state.